


Wedding Reception Blues

by horatiofrog



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Dealing with problem relatives, Extended Families, Family events, Found Family, Gen, adoptive families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 22:51:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15471882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horatiofrog/pseuds/horatiofrog
Summary: The Jensens go to a wedding.  Justin has his first taste of the extended family, with surprising results.





	Wedding Reception Blues

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Destiny Which Makes Us Brothers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782280) by [Bitterblue33](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bitterblue33/pseuds/Bitterblue33). 



> Warnings for this chapter: strong language

“Oh, Justin, we’re going to have to go shopping tomorrow afternoon,” Lainie Jensen announced as she passed the bowl of steamed broccoli to Clay.  “You need a new suit.”

The seventeen year-old crinkled his brow, puzzled.  “I have a suit.  The one I wore to court.”   The item in question still hung in the upstairs hall closet, which had become his after moving into the Jensen house.

“You need a dress suit,” Lainie explained patiently.  “Something not so formal.”

“Why?” Clay asked, breaking Justin’s train of thought.  “A nice suit is a nice suit, Mom.”

“Well, unless you’re willing to shove him into one of your suits for Rikki’s wedding next Saturday, I guess we’re going shopping.  That reminds me – are you going to need a new tie, Clay?  We can pick one up if you want.”

Justin’s bewilderment grew as Clay hit the heel of his hand on his forehead.  “Shit,” the older boy cursed softly, in a tone that it seemed only the younger man could hear.  “Do we _have_ to go?”

“Yes, Clay.  Aunt Lucinda already called to confirm.”

Clay’s eyes rolled.  “Jesus, Jensen, what’s your deal?” Justin asked.  “So you have to dress up for a couple hours, so what?”

“Oh, my God.  Does Aunt Lucinda know about Justin?”

It was for all the world like Justin wasn’t even in the room.  “Yes, Clay, she knows about Justin…well, kind of.  I was in a hurry when she called.  She’s expecting four of us, at any rate.  And before you think it, Clay Matthew,” Lainie said, pointing her fork at her first child, “the old ‘food poisoning’ trick is _not_ going to work.”

“But it worked so well…” Clay said wistfully.

“Clay, why don’t you want to go to this thing?” Justin wondered.  “I mean, it’s a party, right?  Food, music, dancing?  You do that.”

“No.  Those are _parties._   With actual _people._   Like, people that might actually care about what you’re talking about or maybe even be interested in you.  This…this is not like that.”

“Clay, I think you’re being a little overdramatic,” Matt Jensen said.  “Though I have to agree with Clay…a party would probably be more fun.”

“Matt, stop,” Lanie chided sternly.  “Sorry.  My Aunt Lucinda – your great-aunt now, Justin – she’s…well…”

“Special?  And not like Special Ed, either,” Clay piped up.

“Clay, enough.  Aunt Lucinda is…well off,” Lainie tried to explain.  “And she thinks that some of the family didn’t live up to what she believed was their potential.”

“Like Mom,” Clay chimed.

“That’s enough, Clay!” The sharp bark of Matt’s voice startled Justin a little.  He prided himself on not flinching at the sound.  “We get it, you don’t like the woman.”

“Dad, she hates us.  And by _us,_ I mean you and me.”  Clay turned to face his new brother.  “Aunt Lucinda thinks Mom married beneath her.  And she thinks she should have had more kids.”

“Well, now you do?” Justin tried to make light of the situation.  The nerves were starting to creep in.

“Dude, think about it.  I mean, we like you, obviously, but try explaining our whole sordid mess to a seventy-eight year old woman with sharper hearing than a Rottweiler.  And a tongue that could dice cement.”

The nerves were coming in full force.  Justin carefully pushed away from the table, leaving half of his dinner untouched.  “I, um…I think I’m gonna start on that trig homework,” he said by way of apology.  He couldn’t get up the stairs fast enough.

“I’ll help you,” Clay echoed, racing right after him.  Once the door was shut, both boys collapsed onto their beds.  “Shit.  Fuck, damn, _shit._ ” Clay’s face looked as though he was kissing Bryce Walker full-on.  The thought made Justin’s lips twitch with laughter for a fleeting moment.  “Look, man, I’m sorry.  I mean, my mom’s other relatives are okay, especially my Uncle Loren, who’s a musician.”

“Another one of Aunt Lucinda’s favorites?”

Clay smiled.  “No, not really.  Thinks he should have studied medicine instead.”  The older boy pointed at the posters hanging above his bed.  “I got these from him.  Even took me to a couple of concerts where he opened for the main event.  It was cool.”

“No chance _I_ could get food poisoning, huh?”

“Nope.  Dad and I used it, like, the last six events we knew Aunt Lucinda would be at.  She never says anything nice about Dad at all, and it kinda pisses me off.”

Justin could agree with that sentiment.  He loved Mr. Jensen.  “Why?  Because he’s not some rich doctor or something?”

“More like because he’s not a rich doctor and he pretty much stands for everything Aunt Lucinda hates.  My grandma was nothing like her.  They were sisters.”

“She was cool, then?  Your grandma?”

“Oh, yeah.  I mean, she died when I was, like, nine, but she was pretty cool.  I remember making cookies with her.  She let me screw up the frosting colors and make tie-dyed Christmas cookies once.” A smile crossed Clay’s face, and it settled Justin’s anxiety somewhat. 

“Lucky.  I don’t know any of my relatives.  My grandparents are dead.  I think Mom was an only child.  At least, I never met any of them.”  It made Justin a little sad to think he had no happy memories of a ‘family event’ of any kind.  His Mom had always been too busy working or too strung-out to do anything with him.  One year they went to see Santa Claus at a store somewhere, and that had been fun until the guy playing Santa had puked in the little girl’s lap before Justin could have his ‘visit.’ He remembered his mother making popcorn and they watched one of those old animated Christmas specials.  All in all, it had been a good day, for the most part.

“So,” Clay said, breaking Justin’s train of thought.  “I need to school you in the Clay-notes version of the extended family.  What say we do that tomorrow after you come back from shopping?”

Justin nodded.  “Sure.”  He felt relieved to not have to go to his first family event looking like a complete dipshit.  “I’d like that.”

* * *

 

 

An hour into the reception, and Justin could see why Clay hated ‘Aunt Lucinda’ events.  There was food, but in such tiny portions that it wouldn’t feed a toddler, let alone a starving seventeen year-old.  There was music, but it was all harps and violins.  It made Justin think of funeral music, and the few funerals he’d attended had at least had music with a beat or actual words.  There was dancing, but it was all ballroom crap, and while Justin could dance, he had feet the size of crocodiles when it came to anything fancy.

“This sucks,” he said to Clay, who was commiserating with him in the back of the hall.  On the dance floor, Mr. and Mrs. Jensen were doing their best attempt to dance what Clay told him was the waltz, with what looked like little success as far as Justin was concerned.  “Can your parents dance?” he asked.

“Yes, _our_ parents can dance,” Clay replied.  “Except this one.  But try telling the family that one.”  His brother’s eyes rolled.  “It’s like the only one they can’t do, but it’s Aunt Lucinda’s favorite.”

“Aha.”

The dance ended.  “Well?” Mr. Jensen asked, looking terribly winded as he sat down.

“You did good, Dad,” Clay assured him.

“Great,” Justin chimed.  He honestly couldn’t tell the difference.  He pulled a little at the new tie – charcoal, to match the new suit.  It looked just slightly lighter than his court suit. Next to him, Lainie ruffled her fingers through his hair.

“Can we go now?” Clay’s voice was bordering on whining.  “Haven’t we done enough penance for one year?”

“Clay…”

“Well, well.  Hello, Lainie.”  Justin spun in his chair to see and elegantly dressed older woman standing just behind his seat.  The dark rose fabric accentuated her dusky complexion and the dark hair was full, if thinning a little.  She had wrinkles, but they were few.  “So nice everyone could come.”  The way her eyes hovered over the family, it seemed to Justin as though she were sizing them up for a pawnshop appraisal.

“Hello, Aunt Lucinda.  Yes, it is, isn’t it?”

The elderly woman sat across from Matt.  “Matthew.”

“Lucinda.”  Justin was surprised at Mr. Jensen’s tone.  It was cold, almost frigid.  It was nothing like the warm voice of the man who had sat with him through detoxing on heroin, softly reading from one of those classic novels Clay hated.  “You’re looking well.”

“Yes, dear.  I’m sure it’s a change for you, what with all those young people you deal with.  They don’t even know how to dress anymore for an event.”  Stony grey eyes peered at both Justin and Clay.  The nerves were rising in the younger man.  He hadn’t felt this uneasy since he’d gotten clean.  “Clay.”

“Aunt Lucinda.”  Justin knew it was taking a _supreme_ effort for him to be civil.

“And who is this?”

Justin cleared his throat.  “Justin Foley, ma’am.  Pleased to meet you.”  He tried to calm himself through a slow exhale.  God, he wanted a hit.  Or a drink.  Neither were forthcoming, and for the better.  “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I’m sure.  But now, young man, I’m curious.  How did you end up living with Lainie and her family?  I never did get the details…”

The newest member of the Jensen’s could feel his family collectively cringe.  “Well, Aunt Lucinda…” Clay began.

“Hush, Clay.  The boy can talk, I’m sure.”  Those calculating eyes stared at Justin full-force. 

“Well, ma’am, that’s a long story.”

“The short version will suffice.”

Justin cleared his throat.  How much of this story should he tell?  Somehow, he didn’t see the truth as the answer.  _Well, I was an asshole to your great-nephew in school, then my former best friend raped my now ex-girlfriend/current close friend while I stood by and didn’t do a damn thing to stop it.  A wrongful death lawsuit concerning another girl we both knew from school came up, and Clay went looking for me to help him get some justice for her. He found me homeless, strung out, and desperate because my mother’s a junkie who surrounds herself with violent, abusive men.  I literally had nowhere else to go, and I was the only witness who could make an evil excuse for a human being pay for what he’d done to both girls, even though I ended up doing time as well because of it.  And somehow, after all that, your niece’s family decided I was worth saving and adopted me._

Nope.  Not a chance in hell.  “Actually, Clay was the reason, ma’am.  He knew I was having trouble at home and wanted to help me out.  Things didn’t work out with my mom, so Mr. and Mrs. Jensen decided to take me in and adopt me.”

Clay goggled at him.  Justin shrugged.  _What?  It’s the truth, more or less._

“Is that so?”

“Yep,” Clay said, his head nearly falling off with the motion of his nodding.  “That’s pretty much it.”

Aunt Lucinda peered at Justin closely.  “You’ll do.  Hopefully there’s some hope for you, young man.”  She extended her hand, and Justin gingerly took it.  “It was nice to meet you.”

“The same.  Thank you, ma’am.”  He thanked whatever deity was listening that his mother had insisted on him learning his manners.  They were rough, but useful in a pinch.

With that, Aunt Lucinda stood.  “I’d best be getting on,” she said.  “Lainie, Matthew.”

“It was nice to see you, Aunt Lucinda.” Lainie said.

“Have a lovely evening,” Matt added.  As soon as she was out of earshot, the Jensen’s heaved a collective sigh of relief.

“Where the fuck did you come up with _that_?!” Clay cried.

“What?  Was it wrong?” Justin was confused.  He’d dodged them a bullet…hadn’t he?

“No, Justin.  That was actually perfect.  I don’t think Aunt Lucinda could have handled the whole story.”  Lainie patted his arm, which was trembling a little in nerves.  “You told the truth.”

“Yeah, if the truth had been gutted in a house fire,” Clay groused.  “But yeah, probably for the best.”

Justin smiled a small smile.  “Can we go home now?” he asked.  He hated the words as they came out of his mouth.  He felt like a five year-old whining to go play outside.

“Yes,” Matt said.

“Can we get some _real_ food?” Clay chimed in hopefully.

“Clay…”

“Or at least dessert?  I mean, could you _see_ the food on the plate?”

“Okay, okay,” Lainie said, throwing in the towel.  “I guess you can have a reward for suffering through.”

Justin could feel his so called million-dollar smile shining on his face.  All in all, his first family event had gone pretty well.  At least, that was his opinion. 

He couldn’t wait for the next one.


End file.
